Pannexins in Skin
Previously, we have shown that Panx1 is regulated during skin development, with high levels of expression in early stages that become down-regulated in aged skin (Penuela, JID 2014). Panx3 has also been reported in the skin and shown to be implicated in processes in the skin such as wound healing and keratinocyte differentiation. However, its regulation during skin development and maintenance is still unknown. The Panx3 skin project focuses on examining Panx3 expression in mouse dorsal skin throughout skin aging and comparing the overall skin architecture between Panx3 knockout (KO) and wildtype (WT) mice at various ages. Additionally, we will derive and differentiate primary keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts from both KO and WT neonatal mice to investigate the expression of Panx3 throughout the differentiation process in WT keratinocytes as well as cellular properties such as growth, migration and differentiation capacity for both WT and KO cells.
